UK launches online resource for nurses and patients with endometriosis

“While this began as something for patients, from a nurse’s point of view it’s also going to be so useful because it helps them signpost patients to the right treatment much quicker,” according to Wendy Norton, a senior sexual health lecturer who worked on the team that created the resource.

It quickly became a resource for nurses themselves.

“There is still so little awareness of endometriosis among nurses and health professionals, so hopefully this resource goes some way towards changing that,” Norton added. 

“Nursing students will find it useful during their training, but also practice nurses will have something to refer to when patients present at GP clinics.”

"On average, it takes about seven years to reach an accurate diagnosis for endometriosis. That statistic is not different among nurses, who may be suffering from symptoms but are unaware that they, too, might have endometriosis."

Cheers!

Donna

https://endometriosisnews.com/2017/08/18/endometriosis-uk-launches-new-online-resource-for-nurses-patients/

Andrea Dalzell, Ms. Wheelchair New York and disability advocate becomes a nurse!

Andrea Dalzell, RN

The United Spinal Organization reported the following about Andrea Dalzell:

"As a wheelchair user striving to become a nurse, Andrea Dalzell has been surrounded by doubt from day one. Nursing school administrators questioned her ability to complete the program. Hospital administrators told her insurance wouldn’t cover her. Faculty doubted her ability to safely administer the duties of the job."

"Dalzell, 29, learned to tune them out. “I detach from whatever situation is actually happening and just take a moment to remember why I’m doing it,” she says. “Part of that is to say that I’m out there in the world doing something that someone told me that I couldn’t do.  And that’s something that we’ve all been told at one point or another, that we can’t do something. That’s my fuel for the fire. Tell me I can’t, so that I can show you how well I can.”

"Whether it was passing finals with the highest grades, receiving exemplary feedback from patients’ families or simply figuring out a way to accomplish her daily responsibilities from her chair, Dalzell has done more than just show she can be a nurse; she has proven she can be an excellent one. Later this year she will graduate from the College of Staten Island with her bachelor’s in nursing and take her boards. Then she will finally be a nurse."

Bravo Andrea!

Donna

Update: Andrea graduated from nursing school and passed her boards!!!!!


http://www.unitedspinal.org/andrea-dalzell-ignoring-doubters/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=66&v=SoEUsUWihsM

A passport to support nurses with disabilities

"Exclusive: Nurses with disabilities face discrimination in the workplace" was written by Jo Stephenson and published by the Nursing Times in the UK.

It is reported that "the Royal College of Nursing is trying to support nurses with disabilities and managers to have 'open and honest conversations' via a new 'disability passport' that is due to be trialled soon." 

The document is designed to be completed by the nurse and their manager. It is intended to clearly identify a nurse's individual needs, adjustments (similar to accommodation in the United States) and a timeline for reviewing arrangements that are made. 

"The idea is that the passport is recognized throughout an organization. If a nurse moves into a new role or management changes, the nurse doesn't have to start from scratch. There is a suggested template for documenting everything. Keys to success include: the employee feels safe and confident to "own" their disability and talk about it and the manager feels safe and comfortable to ask questions, listen and understand."

"Ultimately, employing nurses with disabilities and supporting them makes sense for the National Health Service as a whole. There is a huge value in having lived experience of disability when you are a care giver. What we want to highlight is that it is good business sense to recruit and retain disabled healthcare professionals", according to Holly Chadd, Peer Support Officer at the Royal College.


 So.....what do you think? Could this work in the United States? 

Love to hear your thoughts. 

Cheers! 

Donna 

https://www.nursingtimes.net/news/workforce/exclusive-nurses-with-disabilities-face-discrimination-in-workplace/7023548.article 

For Cerebral Palsy awareness month: We celebrate Carla Pease, a Nurse Practitioner with CP!

Carla Pease, RN, MS, Nurse Practitioner

Carla Pease was born with cerebral palsy. She finished her LPN certificate and then finished an RN program. Carla continued on to get her masters in nursing. 

She is now a board-certified adult-geriatric nurse practitioner. Carla lives in North Dakota and has been practicing as a nurse practitioner for 3 years. She states, “The only disability is ignorance. Cerebral Palsy is not my stumbling block, it is my stepping stone.”

Bravo Carla!!!

Donna

New report: Access, Inclusion and Action in Medical Education

In order to capture the state of disability in medical education, the AAMC and the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine partnered to publish a report based on the lived experiences of learners with disabilities. The report identifies major themes from interviews with 47 students, residents and physicians with disabilities.

Coauthored by Lisa Meeks, PhD and Neera Jain, MS, CRC, the report describes best practices that can promote and foster a positive culture around disability.

Bravo and thanks to Lisa and Neera!

Donna 

https://news.aamc.org/press-releases/article/doctors_disability_report_03132018/

 https://members.aamc.org/eweb/upload/Accessibility,%20Inclusion,%20and%20Action%20in%20Medical%20Education--Lived%20Experiences%20of%20Learners%20and%20Physicians%20With%20Disabilities.pdf 

Sian Preddy: First profoundly deaf midwife in Wales!

Sian Preddy

 In an interview reported by the BBC, Sian was four years old when she was first diagnosed as deaf.

"My mother cried and cried when told the news. She had known there was something wrong with me but was constantly brushed off by doctors as an overly anxious mother; she was so relieved to finally have a diagnosis."

"After that, I was given a hearing aid but just ripped it off. Nothing helped. I kept getting ear infections and by the age of 14 was classed as profoundly deaf."

"Because I had spent so much time in hospital as a child, I was interested in the medical world and wanted to be a nurse."

After having two children and a cochlear implant, Sian applied for midwifery training and "never looked back". So far, she has completed two years at the University of South Wales.

Read more of the story at http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-43376926.

Cheers and congratulations to Sian!!!   

Donna 

P.S. Sian has been nominated for Disability Wales' #IAmEmbolden awards to honour women for breaking down barriers and empowering others.

Think she will win???

Nursing students with disabilities: Is your campus assault prevention program inclusive?

A study, conducted by the National Council on Disability, a federal agency, suggests that undergraduates with a disability are more likely to be sexually assaulted than are their peers without a disability, and that colleges don’t know how to support them.

About 31.6 percent of female undergraduates with a disability reported having been sexually assaulted, compared with 18.4 percent of undergraduate women without a disability, the study found.

“Sexual assault has become a topic of concern on campuses and with the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements, but seldom has the conversation included consideration of the needs of college students with disabilities,” said Wendy Harbour, a member of the council and director of the National Center for College Students With Disabilities, in a news release.

The study, described in a report titled “Not on the Radar: Sexual Assault of College Students With Disabilities,” is the first federally funded examination of how the needs of sexual-assault victims with disabilities are treated in colleges’ policies and procedures.

“Campus assault prevention and education programs are not inclusive of students with disabilities,” the report says, “and college staff lack awareness that such programs should be accessible to students with disabilities, and staff are not trained in disability accommodations.”

https://www.chronicle.com/article/Students-With-Disabilities-Are/242400

Please feel free to leave a comment. I would love to read your thoughts, experiences or suggestions.

With thanks,

Donna